The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Week 12: Lewis and His World — Context and Biography
No new reading from the text this week; revisit any portions you found most striking. Recommended: read a short biographical essay on C. S. Lewis if available. Key passage: 2 Timothy 3:16–17.
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Understanding a little about who C. S. Lewis was and what shaped him can deepen our appreciation of the particular wisdom he brings to The Screwtape Letters — especially the letters' combination of intellectual rigor, psychological insight, and genuine spiritual warmth.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.C. S. Lewis converted to Christianity as an adult after many years as a committed atheist and materialist. How do you think this journey shaped the particular targets he chose for Screwtape's attacks? What temptations might a former atheist intellectual understand especially well?
2.Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters in 1941, during the worst years of World War II. He was living through regular bombing raids, housing evacuee children, and broadcasting on the BBC. How does biographical knowledge of this context enrich your reading of the book — especially the wartime letters and the letter on courage?
3.Lewis was deeply influenced by George MacDonald, G. K. Chesterton, and the Inklings (including J.R.R. Tolkien). The Screwtape Letters shows traces of Chesterton's paradoxical wit and MacDonald's vision of divine love. Can you identify specific moments in the book where these influences feel present?
a.Chesterton often used humor and paradox to expose spiritual blindness. Where does Lewis do the same in Screwtape?
b.MacDonald's vision of a God of relentless, unconditional love shows up in what Screwtape grudgingly admits about 'the Enemy.' Find one such passage and discuss it.
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